This is my first MB, so I'm trying to learn and figure out what I don't even know enough to ask, but I'm really disappointed with the car so far. Background...
2017 E300 RWD, dealer loaner with 7,600 miles. Bought in February this year, only put about 4,500 miles since then (I travel out-of-town 3-4 weeks each month, too much flying). I love driving it on the highway, responsive and quick. It's everywhere else it's no fun. Specifically, driving around town or anytime I'm not on the highway. I HATE the Eco stop, the car shudders hard when it restarts, especially at a light when I'm running the AC. Feels like someone just ran into me. But I just have to live with that, I think. Here are the issues...shifting in low gears is rough and a little awkward. Anything under 30 MPH seems anything but smooth, but I can't tell if that comes with a 4 cylinder turbo powering a heavier car or if something is wrong. In Comfort, it's enough I feel every shift, but Sport is way worse. I only use Sport now if I want tighter suspension. Coming up to a stop sign and taking your foot off the accelerator, the downshift is hard and violent enough I feel myself propelled forward. Reviews had the transmission described as "seamless", but it is anything but. Nothing feels smooth even driving through my neighborhood.

The biggest problem is lack of acceleration when I have slowed coming off a highway ramp or entering a roundabout. If I am dead stopped, acceleration is okay. But if I am still rolling, the delay in acceleration is frightening. Entering moving traffic, I have put the pedal to the floor a couple times and then it finally lunges forward. Every time, there is a delay.

Getting to the dealer is PIA, but I did take it in for the 10,000 mile service. I described the issue as above, but they came back with "didn't find anything wrong." I don't know if that means they just hooked it up to a tester and if there wasn't an error code, everything must be okay.

I guess I'm looking for some guidance. Are my expectations wrong or does it sound like there is something wrong and I need to do a better job articulating the problem? Since it was a loaner for 6-9 months (my guess), it likely was driven hard. I asked about what kind of gas was put into it during that time because if it was a loaner, it could have been cheap gas, but they insisted it was only high octane (I have only used 93). The engine doesn't sound smooth when standing outside the car, but again, I don't know what it should sound like. It's not "missing" but doesn't purr either. Maybe there is an engine issue that revels itself at lower speeds, I don't know.

Apologies if I seem clueless. I've only had Fords and GMs prior to this car. I love the look (Piedmont Green with AMG body style), just want to feel the same way driving it. Thoughts?

 

Welcome to MBWorld. With the eco start stop, you can disable it, either manually every time you get in the car, or with a module from MidCity Engineering.

With respect to your other comments, I am surprised that you did not notice these issues with a test drive.

My experience with the E300 is very close to yours, which is why I didn't even spend another second thinking about the car after I drove it. Yes, it's a 4 cylinder turbo powering the car. Yes, there is turbo lag, and yes, in my experience, it is severely underpowered. Your comments about the car sounding off are similar to my comments that the 4 cylinder sounds sad - and if people choose to disagree with me, that's fine, but there's a reason MB piped in fake engine noise through the speakers :p

Can you exchange the car?

Cue E300 defenders in....3.....2.....1

 

I'm not defending the E300, but I will say that the experience you've outlined does not mirror our E300 in terms of smoothness at all. Our E300 shifts seamlessly, so if you your doesn't do that, you should take it up with your service manager. I do wonder why you didn't feel this when you test drove the car before you bought it? The acceleration is what it is. For most driving the car does fine. It doesn't accelerate like our E400 with the Bi-Turbo V6. I just don't use, nor like, nor appreciate the Eco Start function in either car. So, I turn it off every time I start my car. You can do so as well.

 

On the test drive, we took it on the highway and that is where I was interested in how it responded. If this how the car actually works, then I did a poor job of test driving it. The salesman was showing me how different things worked as we were driving, but maybe I just got excited and didn't pay close enough attention to the whole experience. That is on me.

The only other 4 cylinder I have owned was my wife's Mini (which is a blast to drive) and my 1977 Pinto I had in high school.

And I do turn off the Eco Start, when I remember. I usually don't do it in the garage before I pull out, so when I stop and the engine turns off, then I push the button.

 

You can't really do anything about the acceleration, but the way you describe the shifting doesn't seem right. I'd have that looked at. I simply can't feel the car shift at all in our E300. And as I mentioned, just turn off Eco when you start the car and that will no longer be a point of aggravation.

 

Just my $.02:

Go to the dealer and test drive a different E300 back to back with your car. If they both drive the same, nothing can be done. If they are different then your problem(s) can be addressed.

Yes you are correct to assume that regular gas was used and the car being a loaner was driven hard. However, that should not make a difference in how it presently drives.

Fortunately your car is still under warranty.

 

I applaud your taking responsibility for the whole thing - but I will just say that your story and such (and I'm guilty of learning the same way you are too with a previous Audi I owned), is that when one is spending this much money on cars like we are - we really should all be going for multiple test drives.

 

The engine is more responsive in sport mode. You can set the engine to sport mode while keeping suspension and steering in comfort mode by configuring individual mode.

 

When I had a E300 loaner for a full day I found the transmission smooth, the engine peppy but not powerful. I just felt for $70,000 a V4 was inappropriate and that the V6 was a smoother and more fitting engine for a luxury car.

When I was outside the car and the engine was running, it sounded harsh and again inappropriate for a luxury car.

My own belief (opinion) is that with all the SUV's and S Class Mercedes is selling they needed to sell more V4 to satisfy CAFE - hence the E300.

Again only my opinion no facts to back it up.

I have on order an E450 4Matic.

 

The engine is an I4 not a V4.

 

I think the whole mid segment I4 thing started with the Audi A6 offering the 2.0L engine. It was not because of CAFE requirements, but because of trying to ***** the brand out (all car makers are doing this). The mid size luxo sedan range always had a V6 in it, but 4 cylinders started being sold and the price point dropped to try and get more people to buy it.

Perhaps you are right that it's a CAFE thing, but I think it has much more to do by offering a cheaper price point to these mid size sedans.

 

You are correct: I totally forgot about the A6 2.0. Then came the BMW 528/530..

These smaller engines were perfect for the A4 and 3 series BMW.

Drove both (A6 2.0 and BMW 528530) and they were dogs - but they were cheaper!

Correct: I4 not V4 - sorry!

 

from what i know, the e300 loaners are reserved for those who bring in a e class or higher class vehicle. and even if not, i hope most benz drivers arent just going around smashing the pedal because its a loaner. regardless, they would quickly notice that the car is not going anywhere anyways!.
I do hear their are some customer who do get into accidents but then repair it on their own of course, this way insurance nor the dealership ever find out about it. 7600 does seem like very high mileage for a loaner...even at a high 50 miles per day average, that comes down to 152 days out on the road...

But like most of the comments above, I may have some complaints for my e300 as well, but the gearing is not one of them... So far as my car has been in service at least 4 times, I have driven at least 4 different e classes for few weeks at a time. They all had their own weird differences in terms of ride quality.... wonder if its something at the plant/assembly line....I think that is the main reason why some on this forum either completely love or hate their e300s.

And for the test drive comments, its really hard to notice these imperfections if you dont take it home for a few days and drive around solo. The salesmen always takes you on the best 5 mins route possible and they are talking to you nonstop haha. Guess that's what they are supposed to do.

 

Shouldn't there be some sort of transmission reset procedure out there? I know it was around on the W211 and the W212. Basically it relearns your driving pattern.

 

The dealer can initialize the "learning" software.

 

As for that scary loooong time lag when coasting up to a stop, then accelerating without a full stop. . . a LOT of recent MB cars do that. Just search "hesitation" on here. Mine (2015 E400) has been in several times for this, with no resolution. I, too, often have to totally release the throttle and step on it again. I have learned not to coast into intersections. Also, keeping the transmission is Sport mode seems to help - the car is in a lower gear and maybe the turbo's are partly spooled up already. From all I can find about this, the phenomenon is caused by the programming choices made in the drive-by-wire system (electronic throttle). The car is programmed to "think" that since you are coasting at a decelerating speed, you plan to stop, hence it is totally unprepared to accelerate immediately.

I had similar issues with a 2001 Lexus LS430, but with shorter dead time delays.

My wife thinks I'm being overly critical when she hears me say to the car. . . "Come on, car. Any time, now."

 

 

 

To OP,

Every time I bring my car in for regular service, the dealership always provides a E300 as a loaner. The SA usually tries to make a big deal out of it. Even thoigh they usually have 20 or 25 of them sitting in the loaner car area in the mornings. Seems to be the new default loaner model for some of the dealerships. I joke with some of them that if they want to really impress me, they should give me a GTS for the day. That is usually good for a good laugh all around, as that will never happen.

As for what you are describing in your original post, that is simply how the E300 performs and sounds. It is not a bad car. It is just designed for a certain market segment and price range. Some folks love it. Some folks don't and after a quick test drive choose another model. MB is trying to be all things to all potential customers. Which means you really have to do either multiple test drives or an extended test drive to make sure it is the right car for you. Also, everyone I know that drives a MB just shuts off ECO Start / Stop every time they start it. Not a big deal. After a while, it will become second nature. It is simply an annoyance MB had to install to meet the government standards.

 

Had the stop/start on my prior BMW 535i and now on my E350.

I admit I may be the only one: I love it! I see no reason to pollute and burn fuel while I am at a red light.

On the other hand, when I test drove both the BMW 528 and Mercedes E300, I found the stop/start totally unacceptable. The restarting caused a shudder each time the car restarted.

Both the 535i and the E350 are 6 cylinders, 3.0-liter engines. Maybe this is why the restarting, at least to me, is so much smoother.

 

On either the E300 or E400, the restart shudder is, to me, unacceptably jarring. I've become completely accustomed to putting the Dynamic Select in my programmed setting and then immediately turning Eco off before I engage the transmission. It's now habit. I have every confidence I won't like the Eco feature on my new E450 any better. I have read that the new I6 48v hybird system coming in the upcoming CLS and GLE makes Eco imperceptibly acceptable.

 

Test drive a new E300 during your next visit to the dealership, that should help you gauge if there is an issue with your car

I tuned my E Class that has made a significant improvident as HP and TQ are increased

 

I think I know what you are talking about, I have a 2017 e300 and my car has been in the shop a lot. With that I got a lot of loaners. I noticed that the later built 2018 E300 have a different mapping for the transmission. It hangs on to the shifts i think in 3rd gear and doesn't up shift in case you want to hit the throttle again. I found it very annoying and hated it. I changed gears with the paddle shifters to force it to up shift. Take it into the dealer, ask for the shop foremen to test drive it with you and drive a loaner e300 to point out if the issues you are talking about are faults or just normal. Good luck. ps. the i4 sucks!

 

Easy fix for all these over priced under powered cars. Just tell all the sales people to tell the big boss when they come back with a V8 you will think about purchasing a Mercedes again. And walk out.
If everybody did it V8's would be back.

 

CAFE regulations won't allow too many V8's. MB already offers V8's in the C, E and S classes.